POLITICAL DYNAMICS

The constitution provides for free elections, a secret ballot, and
universal suffrage for citizens over the age of eighteen. Voting for the
National Assembly is indirect, with voters casting ballots for lists of
candidates rather than for individuals. Seats are then apportioned by an
Elections Commission on the basis of the percentage each list receives.
There is no minimum percentage required for a party to win a seat in the
assembly. National elections must be held if the executive president
dissolves the National Assembly or no more than five years after a new
assembly has been elected. However, the constitution of 1980 allows the
executive president to postpone national elections in one-year
increments for up to five years.

Despite constitutional guarantees of fair elections, every election
since the early 1960s has been tainted by charges of fraud. The most
blatant alleged abuse has concerned the votes of expatriate Guyanese.
The electoral system allows overseas Guyanese to vote. The number of
overseas Guyanese has been said to be inflated, however, and returns
have always heavily favored the PNC. Voting districts have been
gerrymandered, and the army frequently has been accused of tampering
with ballot boxes and breaking up opposition rallies.

Electoral fraud appeared to diminish during the Hoyte administration.
Opposition groups continued to pressure the government to reform the
electoral process. In 1991 the executive president agreed to require the
use of metal ballot boxes that are less easily tampered with and to
permit the Elections Commission to operate more freely. The commission
was given the task of producing a new voter list, but by 1991 had failed
to do so, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency and
postpone national elections.